Tin-Stars and Troublemakers Box Set (Four Complete Historical Western Romance Novels in One)

by Rice, Patricia

  The others chimed in to agree.

  Michael knew he was probably right but said, "I still can't go. But I don't expect you all to stay, and there's no hard feelings. I'll write a note for you to take back to my banker so you'll get your money."

  And then the idea struck, and he hastened to add, "But if any of you will stay on, I'll pay twice what I promised. No"—he swept them with an excited gaze to see they appeared to be interested—"I'll pay you three times what we agreed on. I swear it. I'll even go ahead and write the note for that amount now, so you'll have it should anything happen to me."

  The men looked at each other. It was a lot of money, and they were tempted to agree but still leery. Pete was their spokesman again. "My scalp is worth more than that, Blake, and that's damn sure what I'm riskin'—what we're all riskin'. There's five of us and no tellin' how many Comanche. We wouldn't stand a chance against them."

  "I'll hire more men," Michael offered.

  "How many more?" Joe Clyder asked.

  "As many as it takes. There's a settlement upriver, and we'll go there and round up our own army, by damn."

  "And you'd pay us three times what you said you would?" Sterne Walters wanted to confirm. It would be more money than he had ever seen in his lifetime. Maybe he could even buy some land and settle down and farm and give up being a hired gun. "You'll promise that much money in addition to hirin' as many men as it will take, so we won't be committin' suicide? You swear?"

  "I swear. I'll send back east for whatever it takes to run down those redskin bastards. And I'll hire scouts so we can track them down no matter how far they try to run, and—"

  "You will not need them."

  They whipped about, startled to see the Indian step from the shadows and into the fire's ring of light. Big and heavyset, he was naked except for a small apron attached to a tasseled belt. Long plaits of coarse black hair hung down to his hips. And when they saw the lowered rifle he carried, they did not dare reach for their holsters.

  The Indian held up a hand in greeting. "My name is Two Trees. I am Comanche. I will not hurt you unless you make me. I come in peace to talk with you about the white woman you are seeking."

  Michael slowly got to his feet. The others began to edge away, sure he was about to get himself shot, because his face had turned to a mask of rage, and his voice, when he spoke, was trembling with fury. "You have her? You have the woman? You're one of the devils who took her from the fort?"

  "Do not come any closer," Two Trees warned him as he glanced about anxiously to make sure no one would be so foolish as to challenge him. He was swift with gun and knife, confident he could kill all five of them and flee before the pony soldiers heard the shots and screams and came to see what had happened. To Michael he said, "I was not among them. But that is not important, because they no longer have her."

  Michael unleashed a guttural snarl and reached for his gun, but Pete's hand shot out to grab his arm and keep him from drawing. "Don't do nothin' foolish," he whispered urgently. "He wouldn't have come here to tell you they killed her. Now just simmer down and see what he wants. And he's probably not alone, anyway. The woods are probably full of the bastards."

  Michael fought for calm, but hatred for the man standing before him was searing his insides. Through clenched teeth, he ordered, "Tell me what happened to her."

  "She was stolen by our enemy, a man named Luke, and—"

  "You mean a white man has her? Who—"

  "He is Indian," Two Trees was quick to assure. "Comanche. And I do not know why he has a white man's name. I was not told. It is not important, but our leader, Black Serpent, despises him and wants revenge."

  "Well, so do I," Michael cried, bewildered that the man had dared come to him. "I want revenge on all you bastards. Now what's the reason you're here?"

  "We know you have come a long way seeking her, and we are willing to let you take her if you will join with us in our vengeance."

  "What the hell are you talking about?" Michael demanded.

  Pete still held on to his arm. "Go easy. Hear him out," he urged. "If he'd wanted us dead, we already would be. He's up to somethin'."

  Two Trees continued, happy over the plan Black Serpent had thought of when he was told it appeared the white woman was now with Luke. He was also happy that Black Serpent had welcomed him into his band for bringing the information. “We have scouts out looking for them, but they have disappeared. No one has seen them. No one can find them. We only know our enemy has her, and we have many ears listening for the drums to tell us which direction they are going when they are found, but we believe sooner or later he will take her to his people. When he does, we will follow. You will go with us with your men and your guns. We will kill them all, for they are enemies of the great Black Serpent. Then you may take your woman. We will count coup."

  Michael looked at Pete. "What the hell is he talking about—count coup?"

  "They get points for how many enemies they kill, as well as the way in which they do it. It's like a game."

  "No game," Two Trees corrected. "High coup make high warrior. Mighty warrior." He struck his chest with a fist.

  Michael lashed out at him. "Listen, I don't give a damn about your coup or your mighty warriors. All I'm interested in is getting the woman back. If you want me and my men to help you kill the ones who have her now, we'll do it, but I warn you, once it's over, don't try to stop me from taking her."

  Two Trees nodded solemnly. "We want our enemies more. You have my word."

  "Then let's go." Michael started toward where the horses were tied but stopped at the Indian's next words.

  "Not now. At dawn you will follow the pony soldiers as you have done every morning. Let them get far ahead of you, and when the time is right, our warriors will find you and the search will begin."

  Michael sneered. "And how do we know you won't lead us away so you can count us as part of your damn coup?"

  But Two Trees did not answer, because he had already disappeared as quickly and quietly as he had come.

  Michael stared after him in the darkness, aware that his men were watching, waiting. He turned to face them. "All right. I know I may have spoken prematurely. You haven't said you'd stick it out with me, and I don't blame any of you if you want to turn back, but I don't have any choice except to hope I can trust them."

  Joe Clyder had taken out his pistol and sat gripping it tightly. More to himself than anyone else, he muttered, "We coulda taken the bastard. There was one of him and five of us. We coulda killed him "

  "Sure we could," Pete agreed. "But you were thinkin' like the rest of us, Clyder, how there might have been more of them hidin' out there. It was best to sit and listen, 'cause we're still alive."

  "It'd be crazy to trust them," Sterne Walters put in.

  Ethan Terrell said, "Well, I know a little bit about Indians, too, and it's true that most of the time when they give their word, they'll keep it, unless you turn on 'em. And he came to us. And like Pete said, we're still alive. So maybe he's makin' a genuine offer, and they really do want us to help 'em kill their enemies."

  Sterne shook his head. "I don't know. It's still risky."

  "Do what you want. All of you," Michael said sharply.

  They all looked at him.

  "You're forgetting the one thing I care about. Jacie is alive, and I intend to do everything I can to free her, even if I have to do it alone."

  "I still think it would be takin' a chance," Sterne said. "They could use us and then scalp us."

  Ethan again argued, "And I say the bastards have a sense of honor."

  "Well, what's it going to be?" Michael was impatient to know their decision. "I said I'd triple what I originally promised you."

  The others looked at Pete once more. They would go along with whatever he decided.

  When Pete had heard Michael Blake was hiring a sort of posse to head west to run down somebody that had stolen from him, he had asked around and learned that he was quite wealthy, and he kn
ew Michael could well afford to more than triple their pay. "It's like this," he said, "If you're willin' to risk your life to try and get your woman back after she ran off with another man, that's your business. But if you want us to risk ours, it's going to cost you ten times what we agreed on."

  The other men looked at each other incredulously, it was more money than any of them had ever dreamed of having.

  Michael did not bat an eyelash. "You've got it. And I'll do what I said—make sure you get it no matter what happens."

  "I'll drink to that." Pete lifted the bottle, took a swig, then passed it to the next man.

  Michael declined the toast and walked away. He wanted, needed, to be alone. Finding Jacie was all that mattered now, making sure she was safe. And no matter if she had run away with Zach, he knew he would swallow his pride and take her back.

  After all, the thought of ever loving—or marrying—any other woman had never occurred to him.

  Always and only, it had been Jacie.

  Chapter 20

  It was almost dark, and Luke was again leaning back against the rocks, watching Jacie as she rinsed the cooking utensils in the stream. His warriors teased him about using white man's tools, but during the time he had lived among them, he had discovered small things like frying pans and tin mugs that could easily be packed and taken along and saw no reason not to have them. He had also learned to like the white man's food, like bacon and steak, which he ate every chance he got. But now there was only fish. Jacie managed to catch some every day, and he was tired of it. He might have gone hunting for deer or rabbits but secretly enjoyed her ministering to him, so he continued to appear weak. Actually, the wound wasn't as deep as he'd thought at first and was healing nicely, thanks to her skills.

  But he knew he needed to get rid of her and return to his people to help make ready for the cold weather ahead. Why then, he chided himself, was he pretending to be worse? He was only torturing himself and wished he could muster the willpower to turn away from her, because his desire increased with every moment they were together.

  It was a cool night, with a gentle breeze blowing, and a full moon beaming down to bathe the earth in silver. Jacie returned from the stream, and in the dying firelight, Luke noted the determined look on her face. She had very carefully avoided him since the night he had almost kissed her, keeping her distance except for changing the dressing on his wound, and then doing so quickly. Now, however, she sat down to face him and said, "It's time we had a serious talk. I saved your life, and you owe it to me to do as I ask and take me to Fort Worth."

  "Fort Worth," he said mockingly. "That's all you think about."

  "I'm willing to go anywhere to get help. I just thought that would be the closest place I might find it."

  "Why don't you go back where you came from?"

  She gave a stubborn shake of her head. "Not till I find out what really happened to my mother. And Fort Worth is the nearest settlement, isn't it? So that's where I want to go. Surely there will be someone there who'll help me, as soon as I buy a new dress, so I won't look like an Indian—" She caught herself. Now he would suspect she had money hidden away and try to steal it. Quickly she attempted to cover. "I mean, I'll have to get a job of some sort so I can buy new clothes."

  He could tell she was nervous and suspected the reason. "I know about the money you have hidden away inside the small blanket you keep tucked in your satchel. I also know about the necklace made of diamonds and a stone the color of your eyes, but you don't have to worry about me stealing from you."

  A gasp of surprise melded into one of indignant anger. "So you've been going through my things. You've no right—"

  "I was curious about the herbs and potions you have, and I happened to feel a lump in the hem of the little baby blanket and discovered your hidden treasures. I don't care about them, but what I do want to know is why you have poison."

  "Poison?" she echoed, swallowing hard and pretending not to know what he was talking about.

  "I recognize the seeds of the trumpet-shaped flower that grows on a vine, and I am aware that when they are ground into a powder and put in drink they can make a person very sick, even kill him if the dose is too strong. Why would you need something so evil?"

  "Mehlonga, the Cherokee who taught me his medicine, gave them to me should I need to defend myself against an enemy."

  "And have you thought of giving them to me?" He watched her keenly as he spoke, seeking the truth in her face, in her eyes.

  "No. You would have harmed me that first night if you were going to, so I felt no threat from you, even though you're still my enemy"—she tensed, remembering—"because you are a Comanche, the same as the ones who killed my family and stole my mother and made her suffer ever since."

  Luke could have told her that while Sunstar had endured the same hardships as other Indian women, she had never been mistreated. But he kept silent as Jacie unleashed her resentment.

  "I think I hate all of you," she said quietly, bitterly. "And if I do find my mother still alive, I'm going to take her home as fast as I can."

  "And what makes you think she would want to go? Maybe she's managed to find peace, happiness. The Indian loved his life before your people came to bring disease, kill our buffalo, steal our land. Maybe before the misery came, she learned to love the Indian's world, too. But tell me," he went on, curious, "Don't you have other family? A husband? A lover perhaps?"

  "No." Michael could not be considered her lover, and the engagement was never made official, anyway, she reasoned in order to quell her suddenly nagging conscience. His proposal had been interrupted that night, and she had never officially told him afterward that she would marry him.

  "But you must have some family," he prodded.

  "They're all dead now."

  "Then where would you take your mother if you found her and she agreed to go with you? Your money won't last long."

  Jacie flared, "We would get by somehow."

  "You showed me the locket with the likeness of your mother inside, but what about the necklace? Did that also belong to your mother? You were foolish to bring something that valuable with you, anyway. Others might not be as honorable as I am."

  "Not that it's any of your business, but I didn't intend to bring it. Someone put it in the blanket without my knowing about it. I suppose they were worried I might run out of money and need to sell it to get home." She saw no need to tell him about Sudie.

  "But you said you have no family." His persistence was becoming annoying. His brows rose, and there was the play of a smile on his lips. "You mean you have a friend rich enough to give you jewelry to sell in case you need the money to get home, but this friend isn't willing to help you in the way you need it most—to come out here with you to search for your mother. I think I want nothing to do with your friends, Jacie. I prefer my people, who are there for me when I truly need them."

  She was really starting to get angry. "Listen, the person who gave me that necklace didn't know I was leaving, because I didn't ask for his help. Someone else put it there."

  Luke seized on that. "You mean a man cared enough for you to spend so much money on a gift, and you didn't feel close enough to him to share something so important?"

  Truly flustered, Jacie stammered "He—he didn't know about my mother—my real mother, I mean."

  "Why didn't you tell him?"

  "I just didn't." Oh, why wouldn't he stop?

  "I think you were ashamed for anyone to know your mother had been living with Indians all these years."

  "That's not so," she cried, infuriated that he was able to make her feel so guilty. "He... he wouldn't understand, that's all," she said lamely.

  "You would want to take her back to live among these people who don't understand? People who will look down on her for having lived with Indians? And this man who gave you the necklace, he was more than a friend, wasn't he? He had to have been, to give you such an expensive gift."

  She felt the color rise in her cheeks.
"He asked me to marry him." There. She had told him and was glad, hoping now that it was out in the open it would somehow dispel the tension surging between them. By day she had tried to ignore him, but at night her dreams betrayed her, as he filled the darkness with the light of his kisses and caresses. And always she awoke in a tremor of hunger and longing, cursing herself for being unable to control the fantasies of her mind.

  Luke cut into her brooding. "And how do you think he will like having a mother-in-law who's probably more Comanche by now than white?"

  "He will accept her because he loves me," she said despite her doubts.

  "And do you love him?"

  "Of course, I do." Jacie answered weakly. The conversation was making her more and more uncomfortable, and this was not what she wanted to talk about anyway and said so. "My personal life is not your concern. Now I remind you again, I saved your life, and you owe it to me to do as I ask. Take me back to civilization where I can find someone compassionate enough to want to help me." Her voice had risen with her frustration.

  He grinned lazily. "I saved your life, too, so I'd say that makes us even."

  "Oh, damn you." Jacie got to her feet. "And to hell with you. I'll find my own way."

  He cocked his head to one side, thinking how she was even more fetching when she was all riled up, eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed, her bosom rising and falling and the slight twitch to her hips. "You aren't going anywhere, Jacie, so calm down."

  "You certainly can't keep me here day after day to slave for you. You're able to take care of yourself. You don't need me, and I damn sure don't need you."

  "Oh, I'm not going to keep you," he said easily. "In a day or two, I'll—"

  He froze.

  He saw the flash of steel in the moonlight but never caught the lightning movement of Jacie's hand as she whipped out her knife. There was no time to dodge. Only one heartbeat was between him and death as he braced himself.